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A Republican candidate running for the Arizona Corporation Commission, which regulates public utility companies (among other responsibilities), has proposed a change in policy in the event of his election:

Serving a growing number of people with power, he said, raises utility rates because it requires building new power plants. He said asking utilities not to serve illegal immigrants could protect other ratepayers from utility hikes…

“…I’m sure there will be criticism about human-rights violations,” Wong said of his utility proposal. “Is power or natural gas or any type of utility we regulate, is that a right that people have? It is not a right. It is a service.”

Declaring oneself anti-immigrant seems to be increasingly en vogue in Arizona, and critics have accused Wong of making these controversial remarks, targeting illegal immigrants, in order to win votes. (It should be noted that Arizona’s commission is one of the few in the United States to employ elected officials.) Funnily enough, even the most vocal anti-immigrant politicians in the state have shied away from Wong’s ideas. Wong of course denies making his claims purely for election buzz, saying, “”I don’t need to take on these issues for election purposes. I served on the Corporation Commission.”

Perhaps the most shameful part of such accusations is that they’re even plausible. When did a lack of humanity become a pathway to power?